Mary McLeod Bethune Council House in D.C. Closes Until 2027 for Cleaning and Improvements
If you want to tour the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House during a trip to Washington, D.C., you will have to wait. The National Park Service closed the historic home on Wednesday, Sept. 9.
Workers are set to make improvements inside and outside the house. They will also clean its historic artifacts before visitors are allowed to return.
The National Park Service expects the work to continue into early 2027. Unfortunately, it hasn’t shared an exact reopening date yet.
However, you can still look inside the house while it is closed. The park has an online tour that lets you move through its rooms from home.
No In-Person Tours Are Available Until 2027
Embedded media follows. Please allow a moment for it to load.
According to the National Park Service, the rehabilitation includes work on the house’s interior and exterior. The park didn’t say which parts of the house will be improved or how much the project will cost. It only said the site should reopen in early 2027.
The Council House is located at 1318 Vermont Avenue NW. Visitors will not be able to take an in-person tour during the closure.
The House Was Also a National Headquarters
Mary McLeod Bethune and the National Council of Negro Women bought the house for $15,500 in 1943. It became Bethune’s last home in Washington and the organization’s first national headquarters.
Bethune lived there from 1943 until 1949. The National Council of Negro Women continued using the building as its headquarters until 1966. The house was declared a National Historic Site in 1982. The National Park Service acquired it in 1994 and opened it to the public the following year.
You Can Still Look Inside Online
The virtual tour includes photographs, videos and information about the house. You can click on different icons to move between rooms and learn what happened in each one.
Some of the rooms show where Bethune and members of the council worked and held meetings. The original boardroom conference table and chairs are also still inside.
If you want to visit another historic home in Washington, guided tours of the Frederick Douglass Home are available Tuesday through Saturday. The Carter G. Woodson Home is also closed for renovations but is expected to reopen in November 2026.
